Poland is making a massive bet on artificial intelligence. The country’s National Development Bank (BGK) has invested $11 million (over 40 million zloty) in ElevenLabs, the globally recognized AI voice-generation company founded by two Polish entrepreneurs, Mati Staniszewski and Piotr Dąbkowski.
The investment isn’t just about returns — it’s about building the future. The funds will help establish AI Lab Poland, a national center for artificial intelligence development designed to bring together researchers, investors, and developers under one roof. The goal? To transform Poland into one of the world’s leading AI hubs over the next decade.
From Warsaw to the World
ElevenLabs, now headquartered in New York, was born in Warsaw in 2022. The company has grown at an astonishing pace, reaching an $11 billion valuation in its latest funding round earlier this year. Its AI-powered voice synthesis technology is used by major partners including Spotify for AI-narrated audiobooks and Meta for dubbing and character voices on Instagram.
“Together we hope to build technology that starts in Poland and scales to the world,” ElevenLabs declared when announcing the agreement. The company’s Warsaw Summit earlier in June 2026 drew leading Polish tech figures, President Karol Nawrocki, and Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
A Strategic National Priority
Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domański emphasized the broader vision: “We want Poland to be a place where technologies of the future are created, financed, and developed. Poland cannot and does not stand aside. The future will not belong to those who exclusively use technology — the future will belong to those who create it.”
BGK President Mirosław Czekaj sees the investment as having “the potential to generate a significant multiplier effect,” helping to launch projects worth hundreds of millions of zloty. This aligns with the Polish government’s broader 1-billion-zloty investment plan to promote the AI sector, which already includes a state-backed Polish Large Language Model.
Poland’s Growing Tech Ecosystem
The AI hub investment adds to Poland’s growing reputation as a European tech powerhouse. Microsoft President Brad Smith previously called Poland “the place to grow your business” and encouraged global tech firms to invest there, envisioning an “AI Valley” in the heart of Europe. Microsoft itself committed $700 million to expand its Polish data center and AI capabilities.
Despite these advances, Eurostat data shows Poland still has the EU’s second-lowest proportion of companies using AI tools — meaning there’s enormous room for growth. The new AI Lab Poland aims to close that gap by fostering talent, attracting investment, and creating a thriving ecosystem for next-generation technology.
What This Means for Polish Innovation
For a country with a long history of scientific achievement — from Copernicus to Marie Curie — this investment feels like a natural next step. Poland is positioning itself not just as a consumer of technology, but as a creator and exporter of cutting-edge AI solutions.
As ElevenLabs co-founder Staniszewski put it: “We have many brilliant talents here. We want to leverage this initiative to make Poland one of the main AI centres for the next decade.”
Source: Notes from Poland, June 18, 2026